History

The Beginning. In 1867, two years after the end of the Civil War, First Mount Zion Baptist Church was organized. At that time the church was known as Mount Zion Baptist Church. Two years after the end of slavery, the church was born from a desire to give thanks and gratitude to God who enabled many former slaves to exercise their God-given freedom to worship.  The founding members faced many problems.  Money was scarce and a church location and minister were needed.  The members met in their homes while involved in the time-consuming process of land acquisition followed by construction of a building.  After much inquiry, a site located in the Rock Hill Magisterial District of Stafford County, Virginia was chosen.  The founding members worshipped in a log cabin which served as the first church edifice.

The Northern Virginia Baptist Association appointed Reverend Jacob Byrd of Rock Hill, of Stafford, VA, as the first pastor of the church.  The members used the barter system to support him and subsequent ministers.  Rev. Byrd was not ordained, and as a result, early members were baptized by a Reverend Madden.

Early membership included:

The newly established church continued to be faced with many challenges.  While Sunday School was ongoing, there was a need to add Bible Study to the ministry.  However, retaining teachers remained a problem.  Since the entire membership had to depend on farming for their livelihood, all of the business meetings and most religious services were held at night.

The Split in Membership.  A storm of disagreement began to form in 1873 among members of the young church and the effects lingered for many years to come.  After years of on-going arguments between church factions, the first church building was mysteriously destroyed by fire.  The membership split because they could not agree on a location in Stafford County to rebuild.  Court arbitration named the new church First Mount Zion Baptist Church.  After the split, Reverend Jacob Byrd remained as Pastor of First Mount Zion Baptist Church.  Because of the fire, it was necessary to hold services under a brush arbor or in homes until another building could be constructed.  A brush arbor, typical of churches attended by slaves, was a crude shelter with a roof made of tree branches supported by posts.  It included benches and a place for the preacher to stand.  A second frame building was constructed and services were held in it for many years because a few faithful and Christ-centered members continued to worship.  On June 27, 1925, George and Annie Washington deeded a $10.00 parcel of land to the trustees (Thomas E. Williams, George E. Williams, Hugh F. Jennings, and D. O. Butler) of First Mount Zion Baptist Church to be used solely as a cemetery